My first week at work went well--not much to do there because it is a holiday week here in Bayern due to Pentacost. However, I did have a lot of fun going to the VolksFest(like a State Fair) with a group of turkish kids and one of my bosses. 

On Friday I got to help out with a program called "Kindercafe" where all of the kids in the low-income neighborhood where I work get together and learn about cooking healthy meals/kitchen hygiene/etc. Its a really interesting program because, not only do these kids who would normally be alone in the afternoons while their parents work have a place to go and hang out, but it also allows them to learn how to take care of themselves and eat more healthily than the pizza/snacks they might otherwise eat while their parents were away. Moreover, because the people running it have backgrounds in child psychology, it gives the kids a safe place to work out issues and problems they might be having at home or in the neighborhood through the context of food. Before I was allowed to work with the program I had to read a pretty long(15 pg) document about the pedagogy of the program, its goals, and accomplishments. 

Saturday was my guestmother's mother's birthday so we went to her house for a large midday meal with my guestfamily and their relatives. It was a really interesting experience! Besides my guestfamily there was also my guestmother's two siblings and their families, plus various family friends. We all ate a HUGE meal and then afterwards there were 5, count 'em 5, birthday cakes! Germans are really big on eating together and sort of the...ceremony of food. Birthdays aren't so much celebrated with lots of stuff but rather with conversation and food and family. Although everyone was speaking very quickly in a really hard to understand dialect("Bayerish" sounds about as much like normal German as a Louisiana bayou accent would sound to a northerner's ears) I still had a lot of fun. One thing I really appreciate about Germans is how welcoming they are. Unlike Americans who will be very friendly on first meeting you but then oftentimes not follow up, Germans can seem a little cold and direct at first but they will bend over backwards to make you a part of their community.

This next week I'll be working with the Social Worker at the EA which should allow me a really interesting look into the parts of German society that don't often go on the news.